Accused Twitter hacker’s Zoom hearing hijacked with pornography

A teenager accused of a massive hack on a popular social media platform has had his court hearing postponed after videocall was hijacked.

Zoom’s liberal attitude to meeting participants is as much a feature as it is a bug. Picture: Martin Bureau / AFP

A teenage hacker accused of masterminding the hijacking of high profile Twitter accounts to promote a Bitcoin scam last month has had his bail hearing delayed after the Zoom call was taken over by people spamming it with pornography.

According to the Associated Press, a bail hearing was being held for the 17-year-old via the videoconferencing app on Wednesday when it was “Zoom bombed” by uninvited participants who began streaming porn and blasting rap music.

Hillsborough County Judge Christopher C. Nash had to temporarily halt the hearing, but the interruptions continued even after it was resumed.

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The teen remains in jail on a bond of $US725,000 ($A1.1 million), which his lawyer David Weisbrok argued to have lowered given the scam he allegedly masterminded didn’t even net close to that amount.

The prosecution said the full financial cost of the breach of Twitter accounts, beyond just the fraudulently obtained Bitcoin, is still unknown, and may in fact be considerably more than the bond.

They instead want the bond raised to $US30 million ($A41.69m), one million for each charge the teen is facing.

He’s been charged with 17 counts of communications fraud, 11 counts of fraudulent use of personal information, and one count each of organised fraud of more than $5,000 and accessing computers or electronic devices without authority.

He has pleaded not guilty.

That is apparently my "someone just interrupted our court proceeding with pornography" face. First and hopefully last time I ever make it.

— Andrew Warren (@AndrewWarrenFL) August 5, 2020

Prosecutors want him tried as an adult and officials have said he poses a threat to society if he access to a computer.

According to The Verge, who were also present on the Zoom call, Judge Nash said the next hearings will be password protected.

Two other men have been charged in the case: Mason Sheppard, 19, from the UK, and Nima Fazeli, 22, from Orlando.

The pair were charged separately last week in California federal court.

Fazeli’s father told the Associated Press on Friday that he’s absolutely certain his son is innocent.

“He’s a very good person, very honest, very smart and loyal,” Mohamad Fazeli said.

“We are as shocked as everybody else. I’m sure this is a mix up.”

Zoom calls have replaced a lot of in person meetings, including bail hearings. Picture: Bill North / The Daily Examiner

During the hack in July, notable accounts belonging to the likes of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, were hijacked to send tweets promising to double any amount of Bitcoin that was sent.

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West were also targeted.

Elon Musk and Kanye West were among those who had their accounts taken over.

Zoom meetings can be joined by people who have the link to it, which makes it easy to get people on a Zoom call if they don’t have the app or an account, but also allows for uninvited guests to infiltrate.

As people became abruptly familiar with Zoom earlier this year, beloved comedian and radio host Hamish Blake brightened a few people’s day by Zoom bombing their work meetings.

-- with wires